CarFest North with PEUGEOT

I was invited to CarFest North last weekend as a guest of PEUGEOT.

On Friday, a shiny red PEUGEOT was delivered. The clock read just 252 miles and there was that new car smell as soon as I opened the door. No this wasn’t an investment in a new set of wheels, but a loan from PEUGEOT to drive to CarFest North, the annual family motoring and music festival taking place in Cheshire.

I’d never been to CarFest before and if you haven’t either, here’s a bit of background.

CarFest was founded by Chris Evans, who is a bit of a car fan in his own right and the festival raises money for Children in Need, so you’ll spot Pudsey hanging around. 

It’s a weekend festival which takes place in Cheshire for CarFest North (usually late July) then Hampshire for CarFest South (usually late August) and as with the usual way that festivals work, you can buy day tickets or weekend tickets.

PEUGEOT 108 Top!

PEUGEOT is a household name for city cars and the 108 Top! is exactly that, and a pretty stylish one too. The Top! model (available in a few different trims) offers a retractable electric roof which is a really nice addition to the city cars out there on the market – at the touch of a button you can embrace the sunshine (or even just the fact it’s not raining!) and get some air. The roof being open invites so much more light in and makes it feel much more spacious than a compact city car.

It’s easy to drive and as well as the retractable roof, has another fun (and of course incredibly useful) feature you perhaps wouldn’t expect on a city car – the reversing camera. This took a little while to get used to, but the 7 inch screen is a good size and actually, I can see why people like this feature so you can see everything around you. With Apple Play functionality and bluetooth (plus the usual aux and usb connectivity) it’s easy to get Stormzy on and away you go. Or Fleetwood Mac and Blondie as per Connor’s driving playlist he found on our journey to CarFest, which was very welcome! Start stop comes in handy for city driving too, but the car is so quiet to run anyway you soon tune out of whether the engine is going or not.

Summer style with Ray-Ban

If you order a new 108 or 108 Top! there’s a great offer on with Ray-Ban where you can pick two complimentary frames and if you order the 108 Top! with the retractable electric roof in Collection trim, you’ll pay the price of the equivalent hatch – saving £1,000. The offer runs until 30th September. PEUGEOT 108 starts from £11,935 and further details can be found here.

I was loaned the Collection 108 Top! in Antelope Red with 5 doors, 15″ alloy wheels, automatic air conditioning, chrome door mirrors, tinted back windows, Collection speed decal on the sides and rear, leather steering wheel. See the full 108 range on the PEUGEOT website here.

CarFest North

CarFest was a fun day out and we didn’t let the constant rain and incredibly muddy conditions dampen our spirit – only our trainers. Who doesn’t pack wellies for a festival… yep, that would be me!

With the chance to see a range of vintage cars, some famous cars from films and tv – like the Dumb and Dumber van and some new models not yet in the showrooms (hello PEUGEOT 208 for example) it’s the perfect day out, or weekend, for car lovers. 

But even if you’re not the most clued up on which is fastest to 60, or the quickest round the track, you’ll still enjoy visiting the festival. There’s a whole vintage area with a steam fair, dress up and dancing plus Eden which is the chill out area offering yoga, wellness and hot tubs plus the stripped back Wigwam tent for some music entertainment.

The main stage sits between all the track action, car displays and exhibitions and Eden and across the weekend visitors heard hits from Kaiser Chiefs, All Saints, Beverly Knight, Jack Savoretti, Tom Odell, Texas and Sister Sledge to name a few. Plus, I found out after we’d left that KT Tunstall had performed a secret set over at the Wigwam Stage in Eden. Little bit gutted as I think she’s great…but there’s always next year. Right, PEUGEOT?

As a guest of PEUGEOT I was really excited to get in the new 3008 with Catie Munnings during the Ride and Drive activity. This combined showjumping with driving and once the riders had cleared the eight fences, they would either get behind the wheel, or jump in the backseat and their designated driver would race round the course, navigating through cones with tennis balls balanced on top. Knock over any of the cones, or drop a ball and you get a time penalty so the pressure was on both riders and drivers to avoid knocking down a fence or a cone! It got really competitive and I sat in for both a showjumper and the end where Catie showed some of her rally skills. You can see both in my vlog.

If you’re intrigued – keep an eye out for the dates being announced for CarFest North next year, or you can still get tickets for CarFest South which is happening 23rd – 25th August in Hampshire. Weekend tickets with camping cost £178 and day tickets are available from £69-£82. VIP tickets, family tickets and you can also booking glamping accommodation too.

Thanks PEUGEOT for inviting us along to CarFest North and loaning me the 108 Top!